


Corolla

by sketchnurse



Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: Cardassia, Established Relationship, Falling In Love, Gardening, M/M, Post-Canon Cardassia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-22
Updated: 2015-09-22
Packaged: 2018-04-22 23:06:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4854044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sketchnurse/pseuds/sketchnurse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bashir remembers the moment he fell in love with Garak, in a garden on Cardassia after the war.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Corolla

**Author's Note:**

> I imagine this takes place some time post-canon, with Bashir and Garak in a somewhat new relationship that developed from their previous rapport in the series. The tea I describe is completely made up, and kept deliberately vague on the details.

The ground was wet, but the sky the clearest it had been in weeks, when Julian fell in love with Elim.

 

When he closes his eyes now, he can taste the wet dust particles that were in the air, that delightfully foreign petrichor. Scent, too, is included immediately: the astringent mint of the protective oil that covered Elim’s recently acquired shoulder wound, the sweet melon musk of the tea that was still steeping on the covered table in the garden, and the petrichor again, less metallic than on his tongue but still striking.

 

He used to wonder sometimes if his sense memory was lesser or greater than that of other humans, the ones who weren’t enhanced. But one day Miles told him, in a voice that extruded more fondness than Julian had ever thought was possible for a person to feel, about the smell of lilacs, and how they reminded him of Keiko’s first garden, and the blueberry pie they ate there when she first asked him about children, and Bashir knew that he was in that, at least, perfectly ordinary.

 

“My word!” Elim’s voice had suddenly expressed. “Julian, my dear, please come look at this!”

 

Julian then turned to look at him, and he can remember now, almost as clearly as the scents, the expression on Elim’s face. It was at once rapturous, fragile, and fortified.

 

“What is it, Garak?” Julian rose quickly from his seat, though he had just been about to remove the tea bag from the pot, and came to join Elim at the south eastern edge of the clearing in their garden.

 

“Come here, quickly! I’m afraid it’s going to close up and you’re going to miss it.”

 

In lieu of a greeting, Julian grasped Elim’s hand and followed his gaze until his eyes happened up on a flower.

 

“You see, it’s opened! Julian Bashir, do you realise that this particular species of flower hasn’t been able to bloom this early in the spring since well before the Dominion Occupation?”

 

“Yes, it’s very particular species, requires an exact strength and duration of sunlight.” He would have gone on, but far more tempting was to simply look at Elim, who was staring with such wonder at the small blue flower. He studied his face, almost certain that his friend was too enraptured with the flower to notice. He had seen that sort of light in his eyes a few times before, but never over something so seemingly small and so utterly endearing.

 

Julian had watched and marvelled at the resilience of the Cardassians who refused to let their civilization perish in the pursuit of what had been before. For two years, he had assisted in the struggle of the Empire’s best medical minds to find treatment and cures for the devastating biological warfare that had been waged against its people by the Dominion, and he had seen triumph in the form of patients regaining abilities that had been taken from them by disease and violence. The little flower, robust as it stood, wasn’t a miracle of survival for him. But for Elim…

 

“My father, Tolan, I mean, would make a bet with me every year about when we would first see the blooms. I never won, except the last spring before he passed.” Julian watched Elim look at the flower for a few seconds more, before his expression changed and he turned to look at Julian.

 

“My dear, I can’t say how much it means to me that you were here to see this with me. It may seem like just a flower to you… oh, but I sell you short. Of course you understand.”

 

Julian’s face felt hot, and he couldn’t stop smiling. “I do.”

 

Elim’s nostrils twitched. “And yet you’ve let the tea over steep again. You are very lucky I enjoy your company, or I fear I would have to ban you from visiting my residence and wasting my tea.”

 

Elim talked some more, and Julian did listen, but mostly he was aware of something warm filling his being, something that was warm up his arms and through his skin and in his mind. Warm and bright and electric.

 

“And that’s _why_ it’s so important not to over steep the tea. You know perfectly well the effects of reduced nutrient intake, and honestly, _Doctor_ , I would have thought you’d place more importance on one of the few nutritionally rich items we can get regularly.”

 

“You’re absolutely right.” Julian said, because he knew he should, and kissed that dear man.

 

“Not that I should complain about the affection, my dear, but I did have more to say.”

 

 _I love you,_ Julian thought, and said, “You’re rather marvelous, Elim Garak.”, and after that there wasn’t any more coherent speech for quite some time.

 

 _I love you,_ Julian thought, as Elim caressed and stroked and otherwise worshipped his body. _I love you,_ as they kissed goodnight, and rolled over to their respective sides of the bed. _I love you,_ he thought, and then he was asleep.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Corolla is the petally part of a flower. Wikipedia describes it as 'typically thin, soft, and coloured' and designed to attract animals to pollinate. I rather thought Garak's moment of softness and vulnerability as well as his joy would certainly attract Bashir.


End file.
